An Interview with Unknown Chapters
Unknown Chapters are a five-member Indie Pop-Rock band formed in London in the late 2017. Blending Pop vocal melodies with a more Funk-Rock sound, the band is an eclectic mix of Red Hot Chilli Peppers and early Maroon 5. Gabriela Secova had the chance to interview Andrei Dutu, the vocals of the band and Lorenzo Calvo, their guitarist.
Left to right - Bass: Tudor Rotarus (Romania, 23); Keyboard: Cléo Du Bois (Switzerland, 23); Vocals: Andrei Dutu (Romania, 24); Drums: Jake Randall (UK, 20); Guitar: Lorenzo Calvo (Italy, 24)
To start with, can you tell us more about the backgrounds of your band’s members?
A: It’s interesting because this is why we chose the name Unknown Chapters, because of our varied backgrounds in the band. We all started at different points and we don't have a unified way as artists either.
I started music when I was 14 years old. My mum was an opera singer, so I started taking lessons and started learning classical, jazz and pop music while I was in high school. Then I came to the UK to study sound engineering.
And Lorenzo, how did you come to contact with music?
L: So the truth is I got into music when I was 16 or 17, my last year of high school. I was with a drummer in a jazz academy, I was so mediocre compared to everyone else, but that motivated me to practice even more. At university, I did a management degree but every time I would be out of class, I would always write and play the guitar, so by the end I knew I wanted to fully dedicate myself to music.
What made you choose London? The university and its name? The area, energy, inspiration?
L: Possibly an advantage of being at a music university like BIMM is its a creative place where there are a lot of other people doing this.
A: Yeah nowadays, it is really hard to “shop for people” in this industry and to find the right people who are talented. The fact that you go to university together makes it easier.
L: We also got inspired by a lot of diverse artists from our uni, they have something raw and although they are just at the start of their careers, you can feel that it inspires you.
A: We can say that because we know we are also an inspiration to some other people and we’ve been told that we inspire, we really push ourselves a lot. So that is a great feeling when others come up to you like this! But it is also a lot of pressure.
What do you think it takes to be better than others?
A: You just need to be on it. And you need to not be okay with the first songs that you come up with, you have to write and write and experiment and essentially chase your dream. I met very good musicians who are stuck in the same place and they want to get signed with labels but they usually don't explore enough. We really do a great deal of hard work on writing, finding out how we want to sound live.
What has been the biggest challenge of the Unknown Chapters becoming a known band?
A: Biggest challenge? Finding our style. We have to push because we are very versatile and when it comes to writing stuff it can become very personal (L laughs).
I feel like pinpointing exactly like we want to sound like, we did what we like to do but need to see how people react to our sound and we need to see what is more popular.
L: Because three of us write in the band, we all have different perspectives. Andrei writes the most but Cleo and I often bring in new ideas and songs and we have these influences so it is tricky to find this common ground that represents enough of everyone but for now we have a clear idea of what we want to do. At the same time this is what Unknown Chapters is doing now, I'm not sure in the next album it will be the same.
Now, do you want to focus on London or elsewhere?
L: We are looking at festivals in the UK, obviously our starting point is definitely London.
A: And we are thinking of travelling and having some things abroad as well but we want to make sure that we establish our name in London before we travel.
What is your new song Alligator about?
A: It is about individuals and society, how sometimes you feel as if you are not part of it. You need to break through and to find a place where you can be yourself without feeling like you’re being judged by society. In the beginning of the song you will see some very weird characters, sometimes I feel like that myself as an individual, that I don't get credit for everything that I'm doing and that trying to fit is very difficult..
You can check out their brand new single ‘Alligator’ here
Photo credit: Unknown Chapters
